November 6, 2026
Egyptian star Mohamed Salah called on his teammates in the Turkish Trabzonspor ranks to unite to overcome the loss to their German host, Freiburg, with a clean goal, in the match that took place on Thursday evening in the third round of the league stage of the European Conference League.
This defeat came to put an end to the Turkish team’s series of consecutive victories, which continued for 7 matches in various competitions. Trabzon also suffered its first loss on the continent this season, compared to two previous victories, leaving its score frozen at 6 points in twelfth place, equal on goal difference with Freiburg, which is in 14th place.
The hosts settled the result early with a goal scored by Lukas Kubler in the 14th minute, and despite Trabzon’s tireless efforts to adjust the result – in which Salah was a prominent player – goalkeeper Mio Backhouse blocked several dangerous attempts, most notably a shot by the Egyptian star in stoppage time of the second half.
In press statements following the match, the Egyptian national team captain appeared with his Brazilian teammate Fabinho, as they courageously took responsibility for the missed opportunities. Salah said: “Fabinho and I realize that we were not at our best levels tonight. I had opportunities that should have been exploited, and Fabinho also knows that he could have performed better.”
Salah stressed the importance of cohesion at this stage, saying: “This is football. You cannot hide when things go wrong, and we must stand together, especially on evenings like these.”
For his part, German Thomas Reiss, coach of Trabzonspor, agreed with his player’s assessment, stressing that the team recorded a noticeable improvement in performance during the second half, explaining by saying: “We conceded a goal as a result of a simple error, and my team gave a very strong reaction in the second half, but unfortunately we lost the match.”
